Triggerman in Gothenburg shooting sentenced to prison

A 28-year-old man convicted of several crimes in Gothenburg and Cozad last Fall, was sentenced to serve at least 8 years in prison Monday. Levi McAlevy was sentenced in Dawson County District Court to serve a prison term of 8 years to 8.5 years for 2nd Degree Assault and a prison term of 3 years to 8 years in prison for Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person. He was also sentenced to 2 years imprisonment for Flight to Avoid Arrest but, given credit for 247 days already served in jail since his arrest. Other charges of Use of a Firearm to Commit a Felony, Burglary and Terroristic Threats were previously dismissed in a plea agreement.

The cases stems from a shooting incident in a Gothenburg residence on September 5, 2016. No one was injured. A Gothenburg man reported to Gothenburg Police that he and a friend were sitting in the living room of his residence around 11:00pm on September 5th when a subject wearing a skeleton mask and carrying a black bag, entered the room. According to the police report, the subject pointed a handgun at the man’s face. The man knocked the gun away but, the subject pointed the gun at him again. The man knocked the gun away again and the gun fired. After a struggle the subject, believed to be McAlevy ran out the door. A warrant was issued for McAlevy’s arrest on September 13, 2016. A few hours later, a Cozad police officer spotted the suspect and attempted to stop his vehicle. The suspect ignored officers commands and fled in the vehicle and could not be located. McAlevy was spotted by a Dawson County Sheriff’s deputy in Lexington. He was later arrested at a truck stop south of the Lexington interchange by the Sheriff’s Office and Lexington Police Department.

At Monday’s sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy Dawson County Attorney Kurt McBride said the shooting incident involved a “crime of violence” and fleeing the Cozad police involved the threat of violence and harm to a woman and child when they encountered McAlevy on the highway overpass in Cozad. He asked for a sentence that “will protect the pubic for as long as possible.”

Defense attorney Derek Mitchell said he had seen a change in McAlevy since he had gotten to know him and an “acceptance” of his actions. When District Judge Jim Doyle asked if he wanted to say something on his behalf, McAlevy replied “No sir”. While pronouncing the sentence, Judge Doyle said McAlevy had not been leading a “law abiding life” prior to the crimes.

A second person connected to the Gothenburg shooting, 31-year-old Keith Jenkins, pled guilty to a charge of Burglary. His sentencing has been deferred after being admitted into the Midwest Nebraska Drug Court program.